Tiger Woods narrowly missed lifting his first trophy since 2013 at the Valspar Championship, losing to Paul Casey by just one stroke.
This was despite Woods’ crazy 44-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole on Sunday that put him in contention.
But victory was not to be for the 14 major winner and holder of 79 trophies.
He ended up tied for second, along with Patrick Reed, CBS Sports reported.
Casey, who had not won on PGA Tour since 2009 carded 5-under 66 in the final round to finish at 10 under on the week.
Casey played the last 15 holes in 6 under to grab his first victory since the 2009 Shell Houston Open. He had to wait until the last minute for confirmation, though. Woods missed a 38-foot birdie on the 72nd hole, and Casey took the trophy from the clubhouse.
It might not have been the outcome most people watching and attending were hoping to see, but Casey was certainly emotional and delighted by the victory.
“Tiger made it look easy for such a long time, and it’s not,” Casey told Steve Sands of NBC.
“I’ve won a few times in Europe, but to take this on and get my second victory on the PGA Tour, it’s emotional. I’ve worked so hard. I’m so happy for it.”
For Woods though, there was something to cheer in his coming up second as it was his best finish on the PGA Tour in 1,659 days. (NAN)
